Water ski harness



June 23, 1959 A. w. BROWN, JR 2,891,261

WATER SKI HARNESS Filed Oct; 16, 1956 COUNTER a F '6. 4

FIG. 3

INVENTOR.

ARTHUR W. BROWN JR.

BYMW

ATTORNEY United States Patent 2,891,261 WATER SKI HARNESS Arthur W. Brown, Jr., Louisville, Ky.

M Application October 16, 1956, Serial No. 616,236

Claims. (Cl. 9-21) This invention relates to an adjustable water ski harness and, more particularly, to a novel arrangement for adjustably mounting the heel engaging counter portion of the harness.

In water skis, one of the simpler harness arrangements comprises a permanently mounted vamp for receiving the instep part of the foot and an adjustably mounted counter for receiving the heel portion thereof. While a number of adjustable counter-mounting arrangements have been proposed, none has been entirely satisfactory. Usually they involve one or more objections such as: being complicated and expensive to manufacture; or involv-ing projecting or protruding parts which may injure the user; or requiring the use of removable parts which must be loosened and tightened during each adjustment and which may, therefore, become accidentally loosened or lost during the use, thereby subjecting the user to annoyance if not to injury. The principal objects of the present invention are: to provide an adjustable water ski harness which can be simply constructed, inexpensively manufactured and easily adjusted; to provide one which does not require the use of projecting or removable parts; and to provide one which normally urges itself automatically into a latching position.

The main objects of my invention are achieved (in a skiboard having a foot receiving area and a vamp to receive the instep part of the foot) by mounting the counter on a pair of laterally-spaced longitudinally-extending latch arms and mounting the latch arms on the ski board for relative pivotal or angular movement transversely into and out oflatched engagement with the board at a selected position along the board 'and for longitudinal movement along the board out of said latched position.

This arrangement has the advantages of being so simply designed and constructed that it can be inexpensively manufactured and easily operated or adjusted. It does not require the use of any dangerously projecting or protruding parts; hence, eliminates this source of injury. It does not require the use of removable parts, which must be loosened and tightened during each adjustment, since the latch arms can be permanently mounted on the ski board for angular and linear movement relatively to the ski board; hence, this source of annoyance and possible injury is removed. It may readily be designed to have a series of selected positions so as to accommodate a wide range of foot sizes. Furthermore, by making the counter of heavy rubber or other resilient material, it will naturally tend to flatten itself when manually released moving both latch arms outwardly and thus tend to effect an automatic latching of the latch arms.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of my improved harness assembled on a ski board, the counter being automatically latched in the position shown;

Fig. 2 is a side view of Fig. 1;

ICE

Fig. 3 is a developed plan view of the counter and the latch arms; and

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary plan view, partly in section, showing a latch arm in its latched position.

The water ski illustrated in the drawings includes the following elements: a ski board; a vamp; a counter; and counter mounting means.

The board 1 is conventionally constructed and, as illustrated, has both ends broken off. The board 1 has a foot receiving area which is centrally located on the board and contained within the limits of the harness.

The vamp 3 is of conventional structure, formed of resilient material such as rubber and fixedly secured to and clamped against the ski board by .means of a pair of longitudinally extending side rails 4,. one along each longitudinal side of the instep portion of the foot receiving area on the board 1. The rails 4 are in the form of metal straps which are spaced from the board by the thickness of the vamp material and which are secured thereto by screws.

The flexible heel engaging counter 6 likewise is conventional. When flattened out, it has forwardly diverging side margins and a transverse front edge which extends along a convex path from one side margin to the other. When the forward ends of its side margins are swung toward each other, into the diverging but almost parallel relationship shown in Fig. 1, the front edge of the counter 6 swings upwardly and rearwardly to form an upright are over the board while its rear end edge remains relatively flat. In this upstanding position, the counter 6 is adapted to have supporting engagement with the back and side faces of the heel part of a foot on the foot receiving area board.

In accordance with my invention, means is provided to mount said counter slidably on said board for transverse expansion into and retraction out of latched engagement with said board at a selected position alongthe board and, when the counter is retracted, for longitudinal movement out of said selected position. The mounting means illustrated includes a number of elements, along one longitudinal side of the heel portion of said foot receiving area, as follows: a latch arm; a pivot-slot connection between the arm and the board; and interengaging latch means between the arm Sand the board 1.

The latch arm 8 is in the form of a relatively thin plate or piece of strap metal extending longitudinally along one side of the heel portion of the'foot receiving area. Preferably, the bottom of the strap or latch 8 is in slidable face-to-face engagement with the top of the board. The adjacent side margin of the counter 6 is riveted or secured in any other suitable manner to the top face of the latch arm 8. For example, in the drawing, each side margin of the counter 6 is clamped be tween the latch arm 8 and a strap 9, these parts being riveted together at 9'.

In order to mount the counter on the board for the transverse and longitudinal movements specified, a pin and slot connection is provided between the latch arm and the board, the pin being on either part and the slot on the other. Preferably, the pin 10 is rigidly mounted on the board; hence, the slot 11 is formed in the latch arm. The slot 11 may be positioned in the front half of the latch arm 8 but preferably is positioned in the rear half as shown. It extends longitudinally a distance suflicient to accommodate the amount of longitudinal movement desired.

With this arrangement, it will be appreciated that the arm 8 is connected to the board 1 through the pivot 10 for angular (expansion and retraction) movement into and out of latching position. In the arrangement shown, the forward end of the arm swings, on the forward side of the pivot, transversely outwardly into the latching poresilient material.

sition and inwardly toward the foot receiving area when being unlatched. The pivot thus provides for transverse expansion into and retraction out of latched engagement with the board at a selected position along the board. The slot 11 provides for the longitudinal movement of the latch arm 8 and counter 6 out of the selected position when the'latch arm is retracted.

The interengaging latch means illustrated comprises a hook '13 on the latch arm and a keeper 14 in the form of a rivet rigidly mounted on the board. Preferably, a series of longitudinally spaced keepers is provided in ord'er to accommodate a desired range of foot sizes. In the arrangement shown, two keepers and 16, in addition to the keeper 14 are mounted on the board.

The mounting, of'the rivets forming the pivotlt) and the keepers 1'416, may be rigidified by connecting their upper ends to an extension of the rail 4 which secures the vamp 3 to the board 1. This rearward extension provides, between it and the board, a laterally open slot 18 into which the latch arm 8 moves in passing into its latched position. The rear end 4a of the rail 4 is turned downwardly into contact with the board 1 so as to support the rail in its spaced slot forming relationship with the board.

The opposite side margin of the counter 6 may be secured in any suitable way to the board; Preferably, the mounting means for the opposite side margin is composed of an identical set of elements comprising: a latch arm; a pin and slot connection; and interengaging latching means. Since these parts are identical to those described, they'are identically numbered.

In further accordance with my invention, the counter 6 is made of a heavy sheet of rubber or other similar This has the advantage that it tends to force the latch arms 8 laterally away from each other about their respective pivots 10 into their respective latching engagements. Accordingly, the use of this material causes my latch arms to become automatically self-latching.

In operation, the counter on one board is moved rearwardly and one foot of the user is put into a foot receiving area. Thereupon the forward end of the counter is manually squeezed enough to unlatch it from the board and thereby enable it to be moved forwardly into firm engagement with the users foot. The forward end of the counter is released permitting the latch arms to move automatically into latching engagement with their respective keepers at the corresponding selected position of the counter.

Naturally, to release a foot, it is a simple matter to squeeze the forward ends of the counter 6 enough to sembly, formed by the counter 6 and its latch arms, rearwardly as far as it will go. It might be noted that while the latch arms are pivoted rearwardly and latched forwardly, they could be reversed.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. A ski comprising: a ski board having a foot receiving area; a vamp mounted on said board to receive the instep part of a foot on said area; a flexible transversely eXpansible-contractible heel-engaging counter adapted, when expanded, to have supporting engagement with the back and side faces of the heel part of said foot; and means mounting said counter on said board for transverse expansion and contraction of said counter into and out of latched engagement on said board at a selected position along the board, and, when contracted, for longitudinal movement out of said selected posit-ion.

2. The ski of claim 1 wherein said mounting means includes: latch-catch means mounted on the board and including a latch keeper located along one longitudinal side of the heel portion of said foot receiving area; a pivot mounted on said board and spaced longitudinally from said keeper; a latch arm connected to said board through said pivot for transverse angular movement about said pivot inwardly from a latching position, in which it extends from said pivot longitudinally along one side of said heel portion into engagement with said keeper, to an unlatched position in which its keeper en gaging portion is spaced transversely inwardly from said keeper; and means mounting a side edge of said counter on said'latch arm.

3. The ski of claim 2 wherein: said latch-catch means includes a series of longitudinally spaced keepers along said one side of the heel portion; and said latch arm is slidably connected to the board for relatively forward and rearward movement from one unlatched position, which corresponds to one keeper, to another unlatched position, which corresponds to a different keeper.

4. The ski of claim 2 wherein: said flexible counter resiliently urges said latch arm outwardly.

5. The ski of claim 2 wherein said mounting means includes: a corresponding arrangement of keeper, pivot and. latch arm, all mounted on the opposite side of the heel portion of said area for corresponding latching pur, poses; and means connecting the opposite side edge of said flexible counter to the latch arm on the opposite side of said heel portion.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,754,526 Bridges July 17, 1956 

